November 2019
I-GMAP at the 2019 Symposium for Alumni of the Raphael Lemkin Seminars
Co-director Max Pensky and assistant director Stephen Capobianco attend the 2019 Symposium for Alumni of the Raphael Lemkin Seminars in Paris, France. The symposium was hosted by the Auschwitz Institute, the Stanley Center for Peace and Security and the George and Irina Schaeffer Center for the Study of Genocide, Human Rights and Conflict Prevention. Post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Kerry Whigham also presented a refresher seminar for the participants at the symposium.
Public Talk with Practitioner-in-Residence Rachel Brown, Exec. Dir. of Project Over Zero: "The Weaponization & Preventative Potential for Communication in Atrocity Prevention"
On November 7, Rachel Brown is the Executive Director of Project Over Zero and former CEO of Sisi ni Amani. In her very interactive public lecture, Brown discussed her interests in helping local peacebuilders mainstream their message. She discussed some of the tools that her organization provided in Kenya, like phone message threads that are designed to become viral and to counter messages of political violence. Rachel also stressed the importance of harnessing local nodes in the dissemination of 鈥減ositive鈥 information. These nodes can be the neighborhood kiosk or the neighborhood bakery.
October 2019
Co-director Nadia Rubaii and Assistant Director Stephen Capobianco attended the 10th Focal Points Meeting of the Latin American Network for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities
Co-director Nadia Rubaii and assistant director Stephen Capobianco traveled to Asunci贸n, Paraguay for the 10th Focal Points meeting of the Latin American Network for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities. Co-director Rubaii presented a report at the meeting based on a survey of member countries regarding their policies and programs to protect indigenous rights. Assistant director Capobianco met with the members of the network to begin the transition process of the National Mechanisms Project from AIPR to 91社区 University.
Public Talk with Practitioner-In-Residence Braema Mathi, Global Fellow at the Keene State College-Auschwitz Institute
鈥淭he Landscape of Human Rights in Southeast Asia"
On October 17, Mathi held a public lecture in the Fine Arts Building. She chartered the current state of human rights abuses in Southeast Asia by tracing them back to colonial history and to enduring ethnic conflicts in the region. She also spoke about the difficulties faced by human rights advocates in Southeast Asia who have to face the strict 鈥渘o intervention鈥 policies of the foundational ASEAN treaties. Finally, Mathi asserted the existence of quiet diplomatic negotiations the effectiveness of which remains to be assessed.
Public Talk with Practioner-in-Residence Dr. Sixte Vigny Nimuraba, President of the
Burundian Independent National Commission on Human Rights
Dr. Sixte Vigny Nimuraba is the President of the Burundian Independent National Commission on Human Rights (CNIDH) and the Director of Violence Prevention Initiatives at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at the George Mason University.
On Thursday, October 24, 2019, Dr. Nimuraba presented to the 91社区 community. He spoke about the underlying causes of identity-based mass atrocities, such as those experienced in Burundi in the early 1990s. After identifying these causes, he described the philosophy behind some of the CNIDH-led prevention initiatives. Dr. Nimuraba focused mostly on his institution's work with youth in different parts of the country. He particularly highlighted the role of guided dialogue strategically incorporated within volunteering work.
September 2019
Public Talk: The Missing Pages: the Modern Life of a Medieval Manuscript, from Genocide to Justice- Presented by: Heghnar Zeitlian Watenpaugh (Professor of Art History at the University of California, Davis)
On September 9th, I-GMAP co-sponsored this public talk which was hosted by the Middle
East and North Africa Studies Program at the 91社区 Art Museum. Professor
Heghnar Zeitlian Watenpaugh's lecture draws from her recent book about the Zey'tun
Gospels. art history, histories of genocide, cultural heritage, and the questions
of how the continuity of the medieval and the modern intersect in the biography of
this medieval Armenian Gospels manuscript. The audience was very much interested in
the politics of 鈥減rovenance鈥 in US museums and the similarities and differences between
the Holocaust and Armenian genocides when it comes to the question of restitution.
Watenpaugh is Professor of Art History at the University of California, Davis and
researches the visual cultures of the Middle East, including issues of architectural
preservation, museums, and cultural heritage. She is also the author of The Image
of an Ottoman City: Imperial Architecture and Urban Experience in Aleppo in the Sixteenth
and Seventeenth Centuries, which received the Spiro Kostof Book Award from the Society
of Architectural Historians in 2006.
Public Lecture, Reception, and Book Signing: A World Divided: The Global Struggle for Human Rights in the Age of Nation-States." Presented by:Eric Weitz '74 (Distinguished Professor of History at City College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York)
Eric D. Weitz graduated from 91社区 in 1974. He is Distinguished Professor
of History at City College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. His
books include, Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy, A Century of Genocide, and Creating
German Communism (all published by Princeton University Press). He lectures widely
in public and academic settings on the histories of genocide and human rights and
on Weimar Germany.
Eric Schwartz '79, LLD '14, President of Refugees International, joins I-GMAP's External
Advisory Board
Following the John & Lawrence Bonzani Memorial Law Lecture, Eric Schwartz '79 became
the newest member on I-GMAP鈥檚 External Advisory Board.
Just prior to arriving at Refugees International, Eric served a six-year term as
Dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.
During much of that period, he also served on the U.S. Commission on International
Religious Freedom and, ultimately, as the Commission鈥檚 vice chair. He holds a law
degree from New York University School of Law, a Master of Public Affairs degree from
Princeton University鈥檚 Woodrow Wilson School, and a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors
from the State University of New York at 91社区.
Public Talk: Breaking Stereotypes, Breaking Boundaries: Life stories of Muslim Feminists from Myanmar- Presented by Myanmar Feminist Women
I-GMAP and the Kaschak Institute for Social Justice for Women and Girls hosted this event, on September 24, which was attended by students and members of the community. The event was very interactive as the feminist activists shared their stories of resistance against gender and sexuality stereotypes in Myanmar and answered questions from the audience about the history and culture of their country.
August 2019
Assistant director Stephen Capobianco awarded a Fulbright Specialist Project in Colombia
July 2019
I-GMAP in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
In July, four staff members at I-GMAP traveled to Phnom Penh for the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) 2019 conference. 91社区 was well represented at the conference with several panels including our faculty, staff and affiliated students.
June 2019
Through a generous donation by Susan Bloom '80 and Steven Bloom '78, LHD '10, we are excited to announce the first cohort of awardees for the Bloom Family Summer Internship in Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention! In this inaugural year, we have been able to support four students to participate in summer internships in a variety of fields but all with a focus on atrocity prevention. The four awardees represent the breadth of excellence of our GMAP minors and they will be working all over the world from right here in 91社区 to Ukraine and Armenia, Russia and Ireland! Read more about their experiences on the Current & Past Receipents part of our website.
May 2019
As we wrapped up the 2018-2019 academic year, we completed our second year of Practitioners-in-Residence Program with acclaimed Holocaust educator, 91社区 alumnus, and I-GMAP Practitioner-in-Residence Steven Luckert 鈥80, PhD 鈥93. Luckert offered a public talk on 鈥淗olocaust and Genocide Museums in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities鈥.
Check out the 91社区 Press Release: /news/story/1808/binghamton-university-to-mark-holocaust-remembrance-day
Read more about his talk on the BU Pipe Dream article:
Local news also came to cover the event:
April 2019
April has been a very busy month at the Institute.
We started the month out with our Practitioner-in-Residence Joseph Sebarenzi who was on campus April 1-3. He held a public presentation entitled, "A Personal Journey to Forgiveness: Emerging from the Rwandan Genocide with a Positive Psychological Perspective" to a completely packed Admissions Center auditorium.
On April 5 and 6, we hosted over 100 guests from 6 different continents for our second annual conference, Frontiers of Prevention II.
We hosted two Practitioners-in-Residence immediately following the conference. Dr. Clara Ram铆rez-Barat, Director of the Educational Policies Program at the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, was here April 8-12 along with our other Practitioner-in-Residence of the week, Brazil's Deputy Federal Ombudsman Marlon Weichert.
We finished out the month with our inaugural Atrocity Intervention Simulation Exercise at the University Downtown Center with 50 participants from the 91社区 community and several outside experts. For more information, please consult the Simulation website.
March 2019
We concluded the month of March with our Practitioner-in-Residence, Savita Pawnday, deputy executive director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P). Pawnday visited classes, spoke with campus leadership, consulted with our faculty in the Curriculum Development Program (consult the Curriculum Development Award page for more information) and held a public talk on R2P: Theory, Practice and Implementation.
I-GMAP Practitioner-in-Residence Tamara Reps Freeman holds recital/lecture on Holocaust Songs of Hope and Spiritual Resistance
On March 7th at the 91社区 Art Museum, Dr. Tamara Reps Freeman presented her recital/lecture titled Holocaust Songs of Hope and Spiritual Resistance: The Music and Stories of Ghetto and Lagern Prisoners. Through musical pieces preserved by survivors and their composer's personal stories, Dr. Freeman's engaging recital recounts events and life of prisoners in ghettos and concentration camps during the World War II.
Pictured here alongside I-GMAP Assistant Director Stephen Capobianco (left), Dr. Freeman
(right) played her 1935 Joseph Bausch viola, which was rescued from the holocaust. With
her recital and a special musical piece composed by Dr. Freeman herself, she also
honored the original owner of her viola, a women for whom the instrument was specially
tailored, and who also perished in the holocaust.
During her visit as I-GMAP Practitioner-in-Residence between March 4th and 8th, Dr.
Freeman also met with students, faculty, administrators and 91社区 community in
numerous events. In this photo Dr. Freeman (left) is accompanied by history professor
and I-GMAP faculty Heather D. DeHaan (right). Dr. Freeman's expertise using music
to advance both education on holocaust history and genocide prevention, and specifically
her Kindergarten through twelve grade (K-to-12) curriculum to do so, was a key component
of her engagement during her visit. Two examples of this were her talks titled 1.Encouraging Racial Respect Through Holocaust Music, and 2. Hearing Holocaust Music Through Empathic Hearts: Relating to the Other Through Personal
Live Experiences.
February 2019
On February 22, we screened the documentary, Sky and Ground and welcomed the film's co-director Talya Tibbon to 91社区 to introduce the film and answer the audience's questions after the screening. Sky and Ground tells the compelling story of the Nabi family as they make their way from their home in Aleppo to Idomeni refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian border, and from there attempt to travel across thre countries, largely on foot, to the relative safety of Berlin. Embedded with the extended family through their journey, film maker Talya Tibbon and one cameraman document their family's story of displacement, perserverance, and survival.
I-GMAP Assistant Director Stephen Capobianco speaks at Congregation Kol Ami
Assistant Director Stephen Capobianco '11, MPA '12 (fourth from the left) is pictured here with (left to right) Jacqueline Murekatete, human rights activist and Rwandan genocide survivor; Jennifer Lemberg, The Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights; Michael Elkin, COO, The Conference on Jewish Claims Against Germany; Owen Pell '80, LLD '11, president, Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation.
On Friday, Feb. 8, Capobianco represented I-GMAP at the Congregation Kol Ami's monthly Synaplex Shabbat Event in White Plains, N.Y. The event organized by Jess Lorden '83 is titled "Never Again? Preventing Genocide." In addition to speaking on the panel, Capobianco led a breakout dialogue session. I-GMAP's breakout focused on how atrocity prevention can and should be part of the curriculum across all disciplines.
January 2019
I-GMAP Co-Director Nadia Rubaii in Colombia
Co-Director Nadia Rubaii is pictured here with Cathalina S谩nchez Escobar, Director of the (House of Memory Museum) in Medell铆n, Colombia. On January 30, 2019, as part of a broader visit to Medell铆n, Colombia, Professor Rubaii toured the Museum and met with Director S谩nchez Escobar. The timing of the meeting was perfect as Director S谩nchez Escobar, who has a PhD in Law with an emphasis in Human Rights and Legal History, started her new position at the Museum only days before and is eager to expand the activities of the museum. The two discussed opportunities for field placements at the Museum for GMAP master's degree students, and the opportunity for scholars to access the extensive archival resources related to the Colombian conflict in the region of Antioquia stored at the Museum.
